Burundi’s president Évariste Ndayishimiye made an official “friendship and working” visit to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in April 2026. At the time, Ndayishimiye was the rotating chair of the African Union. The visit aimed to reopen dialogue between the continental body and the Alliance of Sahel States. The alliance brings together Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. It is currently chaired by Mali’s leader, Ibrahim Traoré. The three states withdrew from African Union bodies in January 2025. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn During his visit, the Burundian president praised Burkina Faso’s efforts to restore and stablise the country. This is despite the country being governed by a military junta whose leader has publicly said democracy is not a priority. Behind Ndayishimiye’s diplomatic rhetoric lies a form of solidarity between authoritarian regimes that reject constitutional constraints. My doctoral research examined international sanctions imposed by the...

When Eric was diagnosed with HIV at 26, a doctor told him to plan for his funeral and give up on the idea of children. Today he’s a husband and the father of two HIV-negative sons, and the world’s first Burundian-Dutch Drag King living openly with HIV, a title he wears as both armor and invitation. “Through art and drag, I fight stigma and raise awareness about PrEP,” he said. He calls it Dragtivism. Stigma still shapes who tests, who discloses, who gets treated, and for queer people navigating gender nonconformity alongside HIV, it often comes layered. When Eric the Dragking takes the stage, though, it isn’t just a performance. It’s resistance. Survival. A rewriting of what it means to live with HIV. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn In drag, identity is not just performed; it is reconstructed. “Dragtivism is where drag becomes a vehicle...

Over 250,000 people were registered as asylum seekers and refugees – people displaced by force – in South Africa in 2024. About 4% of them were from Burundi, some 3,000km away. When people think about refugees, they often imagine families fleeing war and finding safety in another country. As social scientists, we’re also interested in what happens after they arrive. Does finding safety also mean finding a place to belong? We believe that everyone has a story to tell, and we listened to the stories of Burundian refugees living in Chatsworth, Durban. This is a suburban area that was set aside for people of Indian descent under South Africa’s racial apartheid laws (repealed in 1991). Our study brings to light the complex reasons these men and women left Burundi: conflict, political violence, persecution and fear for their lives. Burundi has endured decades of political turmoil, marked by recurrent episodes of...